Just One Chapter of a Much Bigger Book
by SuNRisESuNSeT96
Summary: QLC 2: Tomorrow we will wake up in our homes, in our childhood bedrooms filled with memories of years past and some might feel nostalgic, some –excited, but for now, for today, we are still here, at Hogwarts!


Word count: 2335

Warnings: mentions of death, but otherwise none

**Just One Chapter of a Much Bigger Book**

**1996**

"You had family who died in the War, didn't you?" Minerva McGonagall heard from behind her door. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite remember whose it was. Then again, she thought in all seven years, remembering her students' voices were hardly her main concern or an actual possibility. Especially with all that was happening at the moment. All she knew for sure was that it was a teenage girl.

"So?" another girl answered testily (and with good reason Minerva thought, asking such questions was a very bad form indeed and not to mention incredibly insensitive).

"It was that guy Edgar Bones, wasn't it?" the first girl kept on talking either not realizing or (most likely) not caring how rude she was being at present. "With his wife Meredith and…"

"Their twins, yes," the girl Minerva was almost sure now was Susan Bones said. "Is there anything in particular you want, Vane?"

"Their killer broke from Azkaban and I was wondering if you knew more about him. It was Killian, right? Jonathan Killian?"

"No!"

"Oh, come on Bones, your folks ought to have talked about this. And now, with Death Eaters at large, we have to know as much as we can about them, right? For protection."

"I said 'no', Vane!" Susan's voice sounded angry and shaky at the same time.

The quill Minerva was holding in her right hand broke and the ink splattered all over her hand and the essay she was grading. She couldn't care less about the mess. She was about to stand up, go to the two girls and stop this, this interrogation. Minerva could not believe the nerve of the girl.

Before she had the chance to assign detention to younger of the two (because there was only one girl with the name Vane and for her eternal shame thirteen-year-old Romilda Vane was in Gryffindor), Susan Bones screamed one last 'NO!' and walked (or stormed) away.

Minerva relaxed back into her (slightly uncomfortable) chair and waited for her hands to stop shaking. She would have to have a talk with Romilda Vane (probably the rest of the lions as well) about respecting other people's family tragedies. She'd have to talk with Longbottom, as well.

Oh, this was such a mess. And the memories it brought back! It was one thing to know in your mind that He was back but to have a proof (not that the Ministry saw it as a proof, _of course_) it was frightening. All those years spent living in fear, seeing friend after friend fall in battles, or being murdered in their own homes, unprepared for an attack but victim of one nonetheless. And Edgar, poor, poor noble Edgar… With the beautiful golden-haired Meredith, who had been expecting at the time their third child, and the twins – a boy and a girl – who would have started Hogwarts in less than a month. And the tragedy of it all was that they were just one of the many happy families who were lost too early in life for no other reason than the insane goals of madman.

Minerva brushed away a stray tear and tried to clear her head. Tried, of course, being the operative word in the situation. But Edgar had been her friend, a very close friend, and it still hurt, even after all these years. Sometimes it was torture to live in Hogwarts, the castle being full of memories of better, simpler times and the ghosts of friends and family.

**1951**

The castle is, if possible, even more magnificent than ever. Maybe it is nostalgia talking or excitement, she does not know, but the sight of the Great Hall with all golden decoration and chairs set out for the parents is not one she will forget.

"What are you thinking about?" her friend and fellow Head Boy asks from behind her. Startled, Minerva jumps and turns around.

"Edgar!" she exclaims and hits him lightheartedly on the arm. "Stop doing that, you'll kill me!"

"Come on Minerva, aren't you supposed to be a lion, not a scared cat?" he asks grinning. For a Hufflepuff he is certainly quite bold and not afraid to brake whatever social norm there is. She is just glad that he is wearing the formal black and yellow robes (as opposed to her red and gold) as he is supposed to be giving a speech in less than an hour.

Suddenly she is nervous again and starts fiddling with her skirts, straightening out wrinkles that aren't there.

"Relax, will you?" Edgar says with a laugh. He offers her his left arm and she takes it without a second thought. The two make their way to the platform where, usually, the staff's table stands. Today it is moved aside, along with the other four, to make space for the guests and, if someone is so inclined, the dancing floor. There are refreshments on the tables and the elves really have outdone themselves this time.

"It's our last day here, I have the right to be nervous. Don't tell me you are completely calm, I know you," he only shrugs his shoulders at her accusation.

"There is no point in being nervous, my friend. We will either botch up our speeches or not. Either way, we won't know until it's over, unless, of course, you have discovered your Sight," this time she does slaps him and scoffs. Divination, while useful if someone has the gift for it, is mostly a sham nowadays.

"Don't be ridiculous! And stop giving me that look, it doesn't make you nearly half as cute as you think it does," only it does and she is lying through her teeth. His (purposefully) wild auburn hair, big chocolate brown eyes and pale freckled face make him irresistible for most girls. She is, thankfully, immune to his charms by now. Something achieved only after years of grueling torture by him on practically every single round they have had together from fifth year.

"Your lies wound me, my fair lady!" Edgar says dramatically, clutching his heart with his right hand. Despite her unwillingness, Minerva is incapable of suppressing a smile at his antics. "At last," he says, "you finally smiled, mu life goal is achieved."

"Are you implying that I'm always frowning?" she asks and is pleased to see him gulp at her tone.

"Not at all," Edgar is quick to retract his words, well aware of her tamper and rightfully scared of it. "But you have to admit, my friend, that you have not as much as curved your lips I something resembling a smile today."

"This is our graduation Edgar. I believe it is a day for contemplation of the past, a solemn day rather than a joyous occasion."

"Why not both?" he asks unable to comprehend her statement. But how can she explain what leaving Hogwarts means to her, when it is so obvious he does not feel the same way.

They've reached the platform now and before she could protests, he literally swipes her off her feet and jumps on it. Her exclamation of "EDGAR!" is, of course, ignored.

Laughing, he sets her down on the chair that has been given to her for the ceremony. With faked casual grace he sits on the one next to hers.

"You should be thankful there aren't other people around, Edgar," Minerva scolds him without much heat. "Especially your fiancée," she adds. Meredith Blake is a pretty girl at the age of fifteen and in Ravenclaw. She is painfully shy and harboring a crush for him. At least their marriage, arrange as it is, will not be unpleasant of her feelings persists. She will not be coming to the graduation ceremony as it is only for close family members and the seventh years.

"Why do you insist on bringing little Mer up every single time I am around you or any other girl, for that matter?" he asks exasperated.

"Because, she is your fiancée, whether you like it or not, and I do find her quite lovely. And you being alone with other girls, myself included, without a chaperon is very disrespectful to her." this is not the first time they've had this conversation, but there are still nearly twenty minutes to the beginning of the ceremony, so, hopefully, she will manage to get through his thick skull this time. And pass the time at least.

"Why don't you marry her, if you like her so much?" Minerva does not bother to hide her eye roll.

"Stop being a child, Edgar! She is a lovely girl who is, though for the life of me I cannot figure out why, in love with you and in four years she will be your wife."

"And what about what I feel? What if I don't want to marry her?"

"The entire school knows you don't want to marry her. You've shamed this girl every day since your betrothal was announced. You've been acting like a spoiled little child for the past year and a half, giving no though whatsoever for her feelings!" at least he has the decency to look ashamed, thinks Minerva. Unfortunately, Edgar is thickheaded enough to ignore any lingering feelings of guilt.

"But I don't love her," and this probably shouldn't have come out as whine.

"Then learn how to!" Minerva takes a breath and continues in a much softer voice. "I cannot even begin to imagine how you are feeling, but think about her for a second. It's not like is her fault. You cannot treat her like this is all part of her diabolical plan to torture you for the rest of your lives!"

"Even so-"

Whatever Edgar was about to say is interrupted by the arrival of the teachers and several of their classmates - mostly Ravenclaws and straight O students graduating with honors. That is not to say that Edgar and Minerva aren't, but there is a stereotype, which the ravens do their best to fulfill during their academic years. She would roll her eyes if she had not been doing more or less the same thing.

"Guess we are about to start," she says, all nerves and twitches again.

"Yeah," and for the first time today Edgar looks less than calm. His back is as straight as a rod and he is more rigid than she's ever seen him. His face is the perfect blank mask and the only thing showing his emotions are his palms that are clasped together so tightly that his knuckles have long since lost their color.

"I suppose I should be telling you to relax right now and-"

"Please don't repeat my words to me and I'll promise not to be a hypocrite ever again?"

Minerva reaches out and holds his hand for a moment. "You will be amazing, Edgar. You are the last person who needs to worry."

"Thanks," he says with a faint smile. She smiles back.

By then, everyone has already gathered (parents with colorful robes sitting at the back and their children at the front four rolls dividing them in the four school colors) and Professor Dumbledore takes the central place at the platform.

"First," he says. "Allow me to welcome all of our old students back, if only as visitors," there is a round of polite applause at his words, mainly from the graduates. "Second, I wish to congratulate Year 1951 and tell them that each and every one of you will be missed," there are applauses again, but much stronger and they definitely last longer. Several screams of 'We'll miss you too, Professor!' are heard as well. "Yes, yes, thank you. But no, I too was once at your age and wanted this thing to be over with as swiftly as possible, so, without further ado, I give you your Head Boy, Edgar Bones!"

Edgar stands up, proud and tall, and in seconds has taken the spot Dumbledore was at. She cannot see his face from behind, but Minerva is sure he looks like a proper pureblood lord.

"Today we end a chapter of our lives. Today we leave this school, our second home, for good. Maybe we are wiser than we were when we first stepped into this room, maybe not. Maybe we will soon forget about this place, but I hope will not. I hope that we all remember our years at Hogwarts, our friends we've made through the years, the family we found in our Houses. I hope that in a few years, when we look back, we will think of Hogwarts with fondness.

"I also hope that the paths we will or have already chosen will lead us to wherever we want, that we become who we want to be. We might end a chapter, but this is only a chapter of a much bigger book, a book we are still at the beginning at. Tomorrow we will wake up in our homes, in our childhood bedrooms filled with memories of years past and some might feel nostalgic, some –excited, but for now, for today, we are still here, at Hogwarts!

"The place in which we grew up in and was our home for sever long years. I urge you to think about those years, about all the good and the bad and to smile or cry, or do whatever else you feel like doing, because this is our last day to be children. Tomorrow we step into the world as adults and I wish you all good fortune, but today we are still children, so we might as well fool around while we still can!"

The applauses are deafening this time. Minerva finds herself clapping as hard as she can as well. There is just this thing about Edgar that draws people in, rather like flies and honey.

"Thank you, thank you. Now, allow me to give the spotlight to my fellow Head Girl, our own Minerva McGonagall!"

Minerva takes one last deep breath and stands…


End file.
